


(lunch) rush

by elizaeverafter



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Restaurant, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, First Meetings, Fluff, Kinda?, M/M, No Angst, Openly Bisexual Dean Winchester, Romantic Comedy, rival restaurant owners
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-19
Updated: 2020-04-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:41:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23729218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elizaeverafter/pseuds/elizaeverafter
Summary: After years of work, Dean Winchester finally accomplishes his dream of owning a successful burger joint. When Castiel Novak moves into town, opens a sandwich shop, and steals Dean's customers, Dean isn't happy.OR: The one where Dean is thirsting over his competitor.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 10
Kudos: 129





	(lunch) rush

Things had been going well for Dean, lately. 

It wasn’t always this way; there was a rocky start, when he had finally revealed his life plans to his dad - John was so furious the vein on his forehead made its monthly appearance. He had disappointed his father. Nothing Dean wasn’t already used to feeling the guilt of, but this time, he had stood his ground.

Dean had spent most of his teenage years, and a bit into his twenties, wondering what to make of his life. When the Roadhouse closed down and Ellen moved to be closer to Jo, Dean missed the food that had shaped his childhood. Burgers were an essential part of life, practically their own level in the food pyramid. It was a crime that Lawrence had been lacking a burger joint for this many years, so Dean made it his dream to change that.

John always said he wanted his boys to enlist like he’d done. Sammy was a genius from the get-go, however, and it was no surprise to anyone when he started bringing in pamphlets from fancy colleges. John put up a fight, but he wasn’t too hung up about Sammy, actually. He figured that the boy had too good of a brain to be a soldier anyways. 

Dean was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps, especially after Sam’s plans went astray. Imagine John Winchester’s surprise when Dean told him he wanted to serve burgers instead of serving his country. The man got up to grab his shotgun right then and there. 

Luckily, Dean had moved out by then, stalling at making his dream come true by working at the local mechanic’s. He wasn’t allowed to show his face around John for a few months after that, but eventually, Bobby, an old friend, convinced John to stop being such a stubborn ass.

It didn’t mean that he’d help Dean a lick though. Dean struggled for many years trying to get his business off the ground, especially in a town as small as Lawrence was (there were no goddamn investors). It took him until he was thirty to even open the place, and a couple years after that were spent making sure he wasn’t in the red. 

Three years ago, Dean had finally started to settle in and had stopped worrying that he was going to have to come crawling back to John, tail between his legs. It was a relief, and Dean reaped the fruits of his labor every time he heard a customer moan because of his meal. 

He had always been a simple man, and he really would have been content to make people happy through his food for the rest of his days.

This was, of course, before Castiel. Castiel Novak came into town in a blaze of money, rather than glory. Dean had never met him, but he knew that Castiel had purchased a space three blocks down from Dean’s joint before he ever stepped foot into Lawrence. The construction work took months, and it was heard easily in Dean’s restaurant, completely ruining the comfortable, joyful ambience Dean had worked so hard to attain. 

People whispered and wondered about what could possibly be coming, and Dean grew more aggravated with each bit of gossip. By the time signs around the town declaring the upcoming opening of a new sandwich shop appeared, Dean already hated Castiel with every atom in him. 

He meant to pay a visit when the place started running, but queues of people formed past the doors for days. And Dean damn well wasn’t going to wait in a line to check out his competition. 

So he was forced to wait - and watch how the number of his customers slowly trickled down as the days passed. He wasn’t worried about going bankrupt just yet, but insecurity nabbed at him every waking moment. A small town deserved a great burger joint to hang out in, not some glitzy sandwich place that advertised the healthiest options and had those uncomfortable but pricey chairs to sit in. Sure, his restaurant wasn’t something Bobby Flay would take a second glance at, but it encompassed the feeling of home and comfort. Castiel couldn’t buy that if he spent every penny he had. 

It was a hot day in August when Dean finally decided to pay his hotshot rival a visit. Though  _ Dean’s Burgers _ opened at eleven, he had Kevin and Charlie manning the place for the lunch rush, so he had some time to kill. 

Dean was embarrassed to admit he’d spent far too long in front of the mirror this morning. He had no idea what Castiel looked like, figured he was some old business geezer trying his hand at Middle America. He didn’t even know if Castiel would be there, and he certainly wasn’t aiming to impress him or anything. But, well, Dean had pride aplenty and there was no need to  _ broadcast  _ his lack of college education and childhood financial instability with his appearance. 

So he dressed up nice, drove his Baby to  _ Heavenly Sandwiches _ , and if he revved the engine once or twice on the way there, that was his business. 

Walking in, Dean was unimpressed. The place was sunlit with bright decor, but it felt a little too artificial, like it was faking cheeriness. There were so many chairs and tables set up that Dean couldn’t imagine how anyone moved around without knocking into someone else and spilling all their food. And the music - god, Dean winced as soon as he heard what must have been the latest pop song blaring through hidden speakers. The shop had no personality, which made Dean feel simultaneously better about the genuineness of his place and worse that somewhere too low for his standards was stealing his customers. 

He walked up to the counter, where a dark haired man had his back to him. Just as Dean was about to roll his eyes at the crappy customer service, the man turned around. 

Dean’s eyes widened and within seconds of taking in the gorgeous guy in front of him, Dean knew he was screwed. Because this was Castiel, the only face in Lawrence Dean did not know. And Dean was practically drooling. 

Castiel smiled at him, perfect white teeth beneath a strong, currently scrunched up nose. Dean was considering hightailing it back to his car and reevaluating his whole life when Castiel said, “Hello, Dean.”

Well there went that plan down the drain. Dean tried to inconspicuously swallow, ignored how deep Castiel’s voice was, and arranged his face into something that probably ended up resembling more of a grimace than a smile. “Hey, uh, Castiel, right?” 

“Yes. It’s nice to finally meet you. I would have arranged something sooner, but since moving here, it’s been nonstop work on my part.”

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s been real busy for me too,” Dean lied. 

Castiel gestured to someone in the kitchen for a moment, and Dean took those few seconds to internally freak out, like the mature, put together man he was. 

So, Castiel was hot. Like, crazy, blow-your-socks-off, make-you-want-to-melt, jaw dropping hot.  _ So what? That doesn’t change anything _ , Dean tried to reason with himself.  _ He is still your competition and you spent months hating him so don’t change your tune now just because he looks like he could be on the cover of a GQ magazine with that stubble and those piercing blue eyes and the way his shirt is indecently straining against -  _

“Dean, would you like to grab a table? We can get to know each other.” 

“Yeah, uh, that sounds fantas-good, uh, that’s a good... idea.” He was tripping over his words and it was embarrassing as hell. Who cared if Dean looked like he had a college degree in his casual blazer if he  _ sounded  _ like he was struggling to pass first grade? 

Luckily, Castiel didn’t seem to be holding it against him just yet. They situated themselves at a table in the corner, and Dean had to admit that the chairs were a teeny bit more comfortable than they looked to be. Not that it mattered, considering the five million other flaws in this place. 

Castiel slid a menu towards him and started studying his own like he wasn’t the proprietor of the establishment. Dean pretended to read the menu, but really, his eyes were stuck on Castiel. How had Dean gone thirty-five years without meeting someone as hot as him? 

When the time came to order, Dean didn’t even pretend to know what he wanted, instead, telling Castiel to pick for him. “Who knows what’s good here better than you, right?”

One corner of Castiel’s lips lifted in a small smirk, and Dean denied to himself that it made his heart race. Castiel chose something with ingredients Dean wasn’t certain he’d be able to pronounce correctly.

They made small talk while waiting for their meals and Dean learned that Castiel was thirty-nine and from Chicago, where he had spent all of his adult years as an accountant in a firm that didn’t give two shits about him. When he realized he was going to turn forty soon and mark another decade off doing the same meaningless work he always had, Castiel had panicked, quitting his job and spending his savings creating this restaurant. 

“Why here, though?” Dean asked. By now the butterflies had left and made way for something settling warm and heavy in his chest, something which he refused to acknowledge. “Why Lawrence?” 

Castiel shrugged, “I have family. Meg Masters, she’s a distant cousin. But honestly, Lawrence was the first place I thought of and I kind-of just latched on to the idea.” 

Dean grinned. “Sounds like a midlife crisis to me.”

“I like to think that this change prevented an even bigger crisis for me.” Castiel’s smile was slow and syrupy. 

Their food came, and as much as Dean tried to be repulsed by it, he couldn’t. It wasn’t exactly his type of thing, but it wasn’t half bad. Before he realized what he was doing, Dean made a mental note to bring Sam here the next time he visited; the giant would love this healthy shit. 

_ What am I doing? _ Dean swore in his head.  _ Castiel is the enemy! _

But looking at him, in his pale blue shirt with the first two buttons open and sleeves rolled up, opening his mouth wide around pita bread, Dean realized that the schtick was over. He couldn’t keep lying to himself by pretending that the animosity was still there. 

In fact, Dean had a new worry: keeping his feelings from developing any further. Castiel was his competitor and would remain that way, so Dean couldn’t screw his own business over by thinking that the sun made Castiel’s eyes shine even more or that the pants he wore made his ass look incredible. 

Castiel had extended an olive branch by offering to have lunch with him, so Dean could form a friendship for professionalism’s sake. But nothing more. 

When the two men finished eating, they made tentative plans to eat at Dean’s joint sometime next week after Castiel casually brought up the fact that he loved cheeseburgers. Dean promised him that Dean’s version would rock his world. 

“Maybe,” Castiel chuckled, and Dean turned red, realizing the innuendo. 

He quickly made an excuse to leave and was one foot out the door when Castiel’s hand landed warmly on his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. “Dean?”

“Yeah?” He looked back, trying to once again ignore his heartbeat’s increasing speed. 

“Call me Cas. All my friends do.” 

And with those seven words, Dean was truly done for. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! this was written for a prompt request. find me on [tumblr](http://elizaeverafter.tumblr.com) if you want to chat or send me more prompts :)


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